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BJP plans to go on the offensive, target Sonia's foreign origins

Amberish K Diwanji in New Delhi

Bharatiya Janata Party president Shashikant 'Kushabhau' Thakre asserted today that the coalition government led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee would survive even if the All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam withdraws support.

The BJP believes that many small anti-Congress parties will abstain from voting on any no-confidence motion against the government. Information and Broadcasting Minister Pramod Mahajan hinted as much when he told reporters yesterday, "To win a vote of confidence, one only needs to win a majority from among the members present in the Lok Sabha."

The expectation is that a few parties will refrain from participating in the debate on the motion, giving the BJP the edge. Political sources said the Forward Bloc and the Revolutionary Socialist Party, with two and five members, respectively, are likely to abstain. Both parties are members of the Left Front.

Thakre told Rediff On The NeT, "So far, the AIADMK has not yet withdrawn the support of its 18 members of Parliament. They have only withdrawn their ministers, but we are certain that even if the AIADMK quits, our government will be able to win the vote of confidence."

The Lok Sabha resumes its Budget session on April 15, following which a motion of no-confidence is likely to be moved by one or more Opposition parties. Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy, an ally of AIADMK general secretary J Jayalalitha, has already indicated his desire to table such a motion.

Thakre, however, refused to divulge details of how the BJP plans to ensure its majority in the Lok Sabha. "We will cross that bridge when the time comes, there is no need for me say anything at this juncture," he said.

The BJP president said his government would survive simply because there is no other alternative at present. "No member of Parliament wants an election now," he claimed. Moreover, he doubted the Congress's ability to form a government.

Thakre insisted that his party would not try to bribe MPs or smaller parties, or cause splits in the smaller parties. "That is not our tradition. We have never indulged in horse-trading. It may be the tradition of the Congress and was done by P V Narasimha Rao when he wanted to win a vote of confidence," he commented.

He regretted that Jayalalitha had chosen to pull her ministers out of the government. "It is no doubt an unfortunate decision, but there was nothing we could do about it. All of us allies had rejected her demands after consulting one another," he added.

Thakre agreed that the country is still witnessing the era of coalitions, but said the allies must not make unreasonable demands. "We have to run the country and cannot satisfy the wishes of only one ally," he added.

Meanwhile, the BJP is preparing to go on the offensive against the Congress. And in its efforts to tarnish the latter, it plans to pick on the foreign origins of Congress president Sonia Gandhi, which it sees as the chink in the Congress armour.

The thrust will be on national security vis-à-vis the dismissal of navy chief Vishnu Bhagwat, which was one of the issues that brought Jayalalitha into conflict with the government.

The BJP is hinting that despite being told that a joint parliamentary committee to inquire into Bhagwat's dismissal would undermine national security, Gandhi continued to back Jayalalitha in insisting on such an inquiry.

"Even senior Congress leaders such as Sharad Pawar, Pranab Mukherjee and others had objected to the demand to set up a JPC, saying it would be against the national interest. But Sonia, under pressure from some outside forces, kept demanding a JPC probe," BJP vice-president Jai Prakash Mathur alleged.

Mathur added, "We would like to know who are the people who advise Sonia Gandhi, to whom she listens when making decisions on such important issues. The recent events have clearly shown that it is not the senior Congress leaders who are advising her."

The BJP vice-president claimed that Jayalalitha's visit to Delhi was orchestrated only to precipitate matters. "Subramanian Swamy is her confidant and she came to Delhi only after it was confirmed that she would be meeting Sonia Gandhi. Both of them had already decided to get together and the demand for a JPC is only a political excuse," he said.

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